City Manager Darnell Earley said Lipe will lead the police department while an appointed committee continues to sketch out a reorganization proposal for both the city's police and fire services.

Earley made the announcement during the same meeting where the council approved both his request to approach the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department about the cost to outsource Saginaw police services to the county, and his request to approach the Bridgeport Township Fire Department about the cost to outsource Saginaw Fire Department fire marshal services to the nearby community.

Earley emphasized the council's approval of the proposals does not mean the city will approve the proposal's findings.

Officials for years have discussed reorganizing the city's public safety sector, which accounts for about two-thirds of Saginaw's general fund budget. In 2011, Earley hired Assistant City Manager of Public Safety Phil Ludos to oversee the reorganization effort.

Cliff will retire Tuesday to take a post as research director at the National White Collar Crime Center in Fairmont, W.Va.

Lipe was hired as a patrol officer in 1994 and worked in the traffic investigation unit from 1996 to 1998. He has been a member of the emergency services team since 1998 and served as the firearms instructor at the Saginaw Police Department.

Lipe was promoted to sergeant in 2001 and to lieutenant in April of 2007. He began as assistant chief on Feb. 2.